Simone Mathieu
Encyclopedia
| Personal information |
|
|---|---|
| Date of birth | January 31, 1908 |
| Country |  FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
| Grand Slam singles championships (2) | |
| French Championships | 1938, 1939 |
Simone Mathieu (January 31, 1908 – January 7, 1980) was a female tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
, Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine is designated number 92 of the 101 départements in France. It is part of the Île-de-France region, and covers the western inner suburbs of Paris...
.
Career
Mathieu is best remembered for winning the singles title at the French Championships in 1938 and 1939 and for reaching the final of that tournament an additional six times, in 1929, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1937. In those finals, she lost three times to Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling, twice to Helen Wills MoodyHelen Wills Moody
Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player. She has been described as "the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."-Biography:...
, and once to Margaret Scriven-Vivian
Margaret Scriven
Margaret Croft "Peggy" Scriven-Vivian was a British tennis player and the first woman from that country to win the singles title at the French Championships in 1933...
.
Mathieu won 11 Grand Slam doubles championships: three women's doubles titles at Wimbledon (1933–34, 1937), six women's doubles titles at the French Championships (1933–34, 1936–39), and two mixed doubles titles at the French Championships (1937–38). She completed the rare triple at the French Championships in 1938, winning the singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles titles.
Mathieu's 13 Grand Slam titles are second only to Suzanne Lenglen
Suzanne Lenglen
Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen was a French tennis player who won 31 Championship titles between 1914 and 1926...
's 31 among French women.
According to Wallis Myers and John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Mathieu was ranked in the world top ten from 1929 through 1939 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 3 in those rankings in 1932.
During the Second World War, Mathieu was head of the Corps Féminin Français, the women branch of the Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
, similar to the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Auxiliary Territorial Service
Auxiliary Territorial Service
The Auxiliary Territorial Service was the women's branch of the British Army during the Second World War...
.
She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
in 2006.
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1938 | French Championships |  Nelly Adamson-LandryNelly Landry Nelly Adamson Landry was a female tennis player from Belgium . She was the 1948 women's singles champion at the French Championships beating Shirley Fry... |
6–0, 6–3 |
| 1939 | French Championships (2) |  Jadwiga JędrzejowskaJadwiga Jedrzejowska Jadwiga Jedrzejowska was a Polish tennis player. Because her name was difficult to pronounce for many people who did not speak Polish, she was often called by the nicknames "Jed" or "Ja-Ja".Jedrzejowska reached the singles final of a Grand Slam tournament on three occasions, still a record for... |
6–3, 8–6 |
Runner-ups (6)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 1929 | French Championships |  Helen Wills MoodyHelen Wills Moody Helen Newington Wills Roark , also known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player. She has been described as "the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."-Biography:... |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 1932 | French Championships | Helen Wills Moody |
7–5, 6–1 |
| 1933 | French Championships | Margaret Scriven-Vivian Margaret Scriven Margaret Croft "Peggy" Scriven-Vivian was a British tennis player and the first woman from that country to win the singles title at the French Championships in 1933... |
6–2, 4–6, 6–4 |
| 1935 | French Championships |  Hilde Krahwinkel SperlingHilde Krahwinkel Sperling Hildegard "Hilde" Krahwinkel Sperling was a German tennis player, although she became a Danish national after marrying Svend Sperling from Denmark in 1933. She is generally regarded as the second-greatest female German tennis player in history, behind Steffi Graf... |
6–2, 6–1 |
| 1936 | French Championships | Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling |
6–3, 6–4 |
| 1937 | French Championships | Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling |
6–2, 6–4 |
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
| Tournament | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 - 1944 | 1945 | 19461 | Career SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | NH | NH | A | 0 / 0 |
| France | QF | QF | 3R | A | F | QF | QF | F | F | SF | F | F | F | W | W | NH | R | A | A | 2 / 14 |
| Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors... |
A | 1R | 2R | A | 3R | SF | SF | SF | QF | SF | QF | SF | SF | QF | QF | NH | NH | NH | 1R | 0 / 14 |
| United States | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | 1R | A | A | A | A | 0 / 2 |
| SR | 0 / 1 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 2 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 2 / 30 |
A = did not participate in the tournament.
NH = tournament not held.
R = tournament restricted to French nationals and held under German occupation.
SR = the ratio of the number of Grand Slam singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
1In 1946, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon.
See also
- Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam finalTennis performance timeline comparison (women)This article presents in a tabular form the career tennis Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships and Olympic singles results of every woman who has reached the singles final of at least one Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships or Olympic tournament during her career...